Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Indians – MLB, September 23, 2020

The battle for the AL Central title continues Wednesday, September 23, with the middle contest of a three-game series between the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

The White Sox entered the series as the top team in the AL Central with a 34-20 record, but they were only 1.5 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins. The Indians were four games behind the ChiSox and will probably have to satisfy with the wild-card spot.

Anyway, Wednesday’s clash at Progressive Field brings plenty of excitement, so here’s my best White Sox vs. Indians betting pick along with the latest odds and key tips and trends.

Although the White Sox are the best team in their division, the Indians opened as -150 favorites in this one. Cleveland is playing at home and will start its top ace.

The White Sox will send their best starter to the mound, too, so the line on the totals is set pretty low at exactly seven runs.

Lucas Giolito will toe the slab for the ChiSox on Wednesday, tallying his 12^th start in 2020. The 26-year-old righty is 4-3 on the season and owns a 3.53 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 86/25 K/BB ratio.

Giolito had a few impressive displays in August including a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, he’s surrendered three earned runs in each of his previous three starts while failing to last for more than six innings in that stretch.

Lucas will get the Indians for the third time after a couple of no-decisions earlier in the season. He tossed 13 innings over those two starts and surrendered only a couple of earned runs and eight hits in total.

On the other side, we’ll see Shane Bieber getting the starting nod for the Indians and taking on Giolito for the second time this season. The righty threw six innings in a no-decision against the White Sox on August 9, allowing three earned runs on four hits across six frames. The Indians won eventually 5-4.

Bieber is a runaway fave to win the Cy Young Award, sporting a 1.74 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 112/18 K/BB ratio. He’s 8-1 in 11 starts, but Shane has yielded six earned runs over his previous two starts and 14.2 innings of work.

Both Chicago and Cleveland can rely on their bullpens. The White Sox’ relievers have the sixth-best ERA in baseball (3.65), while the Indians are right behind with a 3.71 ERA.

The ChiSox have one of the best offenses in the MLB, averaging 5.19 runs per game (5^th) on a .267 batting average (3^rd). However, they will have a tall task to hit well against Bieber.

On the other side, the Indians should have even tougher assignment against Giolito. Cleveland is averaging only 4.13 runs per game (26^th) on a .229 batting average (23^rd).

Therefore, I’m going with the under on the totals despite a 7-run line, looking for pitchers to dominate this game. The Indians are 5-2 against the White Sox this season excluding the opening contest of this series, and the under is 5-2 in that span.